War on the Rocks

Welcome to The Adversarial. Every other week, we'll provide you with expert analysis on America's greatest challengers: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and jihadists. Read more below.IranU.S. strikes on Iranian soil tapered off in August after frequent

During the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, a Prussian officer defended himself from reprimand by arguing that he was simply following orders. His commander,

It is in long periods of peace that victories and defeats are prepared. Peace is the period for men of government, just as war is for men of

In late May 2026, South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back unveiled a roadmap to achieving one of Seoul's top military acquisition goals:

After four years of watching the war in Ukraine, NATO defense decision-makers are finally beginning to pour money into drones. The Iran conflict has drawn

The reality that regime change is not going to happen as a result of this war seems to have settled in at the White House. When American policymakers

While serving on the National Security Council staff in the Biden administration, I was tasked with strengthening the resilience of U.S. critical

Recent experiments placing large language models in simulated nuclear crises have produced alarming headlines.

China controls 99 percent of the world's primary gallium, a critical mineral and semiconductor crucial for building the microchips of the future. In 2023,

Think of a violin made by a master craftsman: beautiful, precise, capable of extraordinary performance, but impossible to produce quickly or cheaply. It